Doubts over Dell logistics

Following Dell's public decision to work directly with resellers, distributors and some analysts
have questioned whether the vendor can hit the ground running by removing an important layer of the
supply chain.

The US giant said its BTO and logistics capabilities could underpin direct engagement with
resellers and hinted it would only employ distributors in certain instances.

On the one hand, Graeme Watt, European president at Bell Micro, was not surprised by Dell's
decision because distributors already had strong relationships with many of Dell's rivals.

"But resellers are looking for more than just Dell technology and going to resellers in a single
tier model could limit their attraction; it will not be able to offer cross vendor technologies and
solutions," he said.

The role of distribution had been "underestimated" by Dell, said Jared Cary, product channels
director at Northamber: "We provide product for next day delivery, and credit and the role of
distributors is taken for granted".

Credit will be provided by Dell said Josh Claman, vice president and general manager for channel
EMEA: "Offering credit keeps us close to resellers so we understand their cashflow".

However, Alistair Edwards, senior analyst at Canalys, argued Dell had made a mistake.

"It is true that it has a logistics capability but that misses the real value that distributors
add - holding stock for next day delivery and a more efficient logistics model".

He added Dell would also be exposed to fraud attempts or resellers going out of business:
"aspects that many vendors like to hand across to distributors."

But Simon Aron, joint managing director at Eurodata Systems - which supplies Dell in response to
customer demand - said apart from stock availability, he did not see a problem with Dell's
decision.

This week, IndependenceIT unveiled the 4.0 version of Cloud Workspace Suite, which features a number of enhancements; Knowledge Vault launched a partner program for its cloud-based analytics-as-a-service platform; and more.

Value-added resellers and service providers interested in reselling Aruba networking hardware and software can learn the benefits of becoming an Aruba Networks partner with this standardized checklist. Compare Aruba's reseller partner program with other vendors' offering similar products.